Guardian of Oz
by FireInTheStars
Summary: The O.Z. needs help, who will the ancients turn to? DG/Cain, Az/Glitch, Jeb/OC full summery inside, Updated chapters 1 and 2, three to come soon and more after!
1. After the Eclipse

-1**Author's note: uhm yeah, this is my first Tin Man story, it is a multichap, so yeah, uhm, read, and review. Ships include Cain/DG, Az/Glitch and Jeb/OC, hehe.**

**Full Summery: The Witch has been defeated, but can the Ancient Spirits of the O.Z. handle the surge of power coming back to them or will they choose someone to help them?**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, unfortunately. But I do have Tin Man TiVo-ed

The Ancient ones of the Outer Zone were respected and feared by all, they were said to control all happenings in the O.Z., they controlled all things, such as the season's changing to the magic of the whole land. The Ancients were former Kings, Queens and Mages of the Outer Zone. Today, they gathered after fifteen annuals of hiding.

Ozma began with the statement they all felt.

"Mombi has finally been destroyed, but as we feared, we cannot handle this large of a power reclaim, it will poison the people of the Outer Zone. My proposition is that we outsource the power to another being who will release it slowly as the O.Z. needs. Do we have an accord?"

the Ancients agreed slowly, trusting the former ruler's judgment. Glinda spoke privately with Ozma,

"Who is it we are enlisting to help us?"

"A girl from the Other Side, yes, she will do well." Ozma smiled softly as she and Glinda parted ways.

Now it was time to bring the girl.

R and R? and tell me if you hate it…


	2. A Girl Named Oz

-1**Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoyed my introduction, however short it was. Stick around and enjoy chapter 2.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Tin Man.**

On the shores of Lake Michigan, a girl sat in the sand. Her sea blue green eyes watched the water with sorrow, her curly black brown hair blowing across her freckle sprinkled face. The girl lay back in the sand, closing her eyes, the hot sun began to burn her delicate white skin, but she didn't care, nothing mattered anymore. Her mind began to drift and slowly the soft sound of waves began to fade.

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Jeb Cain, the newly appointed General of the Royal O.Z. Army, looked back at his troops who were far behind,

"Pick up the pace men! I want to be the Northern Island by tomorrow afternoon!"

His young face turned to a smile as he heard the men groan and grumble, but his smile was soon replaced by a frown. Jeb halted his horse and called for the men to take a rest, Jeb walked out in front of his horse to a clearing in the road ahead where a girl lye, unconscious to the world. Jeb approached the girl slowly, but she did not wake, kneeling beside her, Jeb had never seen a more beautiful girl. Her skin was smooth and pale like fine porcelain, her hair was curly and as dark as midnight. It was her clothes though that intrigued him, as there were not of the Ozian fashion. Her top had thin straps and cut low enough to make him blush, her legs were bare save the small pair of brown slacks the didn't even extend to half way to her knees and her feet were covered by a pair of black and white shoes that laced, much like DG's did.

"Miss, miss, are you alright?" Jeb spoke softly as he shook the girl's shoulder gently,

Nevertheless, the girl did not make a sound. Jeb leaned down to watch the gentle rise and fall of the girl's chest before kneeling to carry her to the make shift camp the men were currently preparing.

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Oz's eyes fluttered open slowly, her head throbbing.

_Guess that's what I get for falling asleep at the beach. I'm going to have one heck of a sunburn tomorrow._

She sat slowly, her eyes adjusting to the dark, and she began to untangle her legs from the blanket.

_Wait, I didn't have a blanket…_

Oz was fully awake now, startled and fearing the worse of kidnap when a young man walked into was she could identify as a simple old-fashioned tent.

"Oh! You're awake finally, I was beginning to think you weren't ever going to wake." he seemed generally concerned for her welfare.

"Where am I? How did I get here? Who are you?" Oz fired off and she scooted away from the man.

"Whoa, whoa, one question at a time. I'm Jeb Cain, General of the Royal Ozian Army, I found you along the trail, unconscious, I brought you here when you didn't wake. You're in the O.Z." he smiled.

"You don't have anything to fear from me." Oz stared at him

confusedly, her innocent eyes wide.

"What's the O.Z.?"

Jeb laughed halfheartedly,

"I was afraid you'd say that, this is the O.Z. or the Outer Zone, not far from your Other Side, you're what we call a Slipper; I'm going to take you to our Princess DG, she may be able to help you. That is, if it's alright with you…" he said quietly.

Oz nodded her head slowly,

_guess it wouldn't hurt, I mean, this is all probably just a dream, I'll wake up soon on the beach with a crappy sunburn and it'll all be over._

"If you don't mind miss, what's your name?"

Jeb asked as he turned to leave the tent. Oz smiled at him,

"It's Oz."

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Ozma watched as Oz smiled at Jeb,

_Yes, she will serve us well…_

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The next morning, Jeb walked in to find Oz sound asleep, curled up in the blankets, the top of her head peeking out from under the covers.

"Oz, it's time to wake up, there's breakfast ready if you'd like some, but we're going to get headed to the Northern Island to meet with the Royals, Ok?"

the head soon because the upper portion of the girls body, her sea green eyes blurry.

"Ok I'm coming." the girl said sleepily as she rubbed her eyes and stretched her legs out of the bed. Jeb smiled at her cat like actions as he walked out of the tent.

Oz joined him shortly, yawning softly and graciously taking the mug of coffee from his hands, sipping it slowly. The men of the camp seemed to stop there actions as soon as the caught sight of her, starring at her like deer caught in the headlights.

"Jeb, why are they all starring at me like that?"

Jeb blushed slightly, and cleared his throat.

"Men, this is O.Z. and she'll be joining us for the remained of our journey to the Northern Island, finish breaking camp, we'll be leaving soon."

then Jeb came up to whisper in her ear, "They're not used to seeing clothing like yours, I'm guessing it startled them that's all. Get a move on, we need to leave soon to meet the Princess."

and then he moved to finish work around the camp, leaving Oz in the wake of what seemed like madness.

Jeb watched as Oz washed her face from the stream near their campsite, she sat for a short while, watching the water before she stood up and dug in the pockets of her trousers before she produced a small green tin that glinted in the sunlight. Jeb watched as she removed the lid, lifted a small amount of white balm before removing the hair hanging upon her neck, and smeared the balm on an intricate tattoo. The design was hard to see from the distance he was standing at but it twisted and curled around two letters in the middle, Oz. Jeb pondered the meaning as he turned back to the campsite to help get his men ready.

Oz brushed the rest of the small leaves and dirt off her shorts and turned back towards the camp. She walked softly, thumbs in her pockets, trying not to notice how all the men were still starring at her as she walked.

_What, haven't they ever seen shorts before? Please let it be time for me to wake up now._

Oz's eyes shut as she tried to wake herself, opening her eyes she saw she was still in the camp, but with a large cup of coffee in her face.

"Thought you might need it." Jeb said, handing the mug to her.

"Excuse me? What makes you think that?"

"Nothing, it was just a simple observation, you look tired, that's all."

Oz was pissed now, who was he saying she looked tired, he didn't know her, he knew nothing about her.

"Just who do you think you are? You don't know the first thing about me, nothing, so don't even try to start saying I need anything. I'm not a child and I don't need someone taking care of me!"

Oz started to walk off angrily, but Jeb caught her arm and spun her around to look at him, his eyes fuming as well.

"I may not know you, but that doesn't mean anything. I can tell you a lot about yourself right now. You don't tan, you sunburn, because your skin is so pale. You have trouble sleeping, the dark circles under your eyes say that you probably haven't slept well in a few months. You chew your nails, they're short and the varnish is chipped. That tattoo on the back of your neck is still pretty new because you still use healing gel on it. You're active, you probably play a sport. Do you want me to continue?" Jeb snapped at her, her eyes growing wide in hurt and anger.

"Just because you notice things about me doesn't me that you know me. Now if you don't mind I'd like to get back home, so can we go?"

"Be my guest."

And the two remained silent for the rest of the morning.

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Oz sat in a saddle behind the general of an army she had never heard of and knew she was going crazy.

_Truly, I am crazy, there's know way this can be a dream, my butt wouldn't hurt this much if it was. They all said I would have a psychiatric break, I just never believed them till now._

She sighed, they had been riding for what seemed like hours and it was until a few short moments ago did she discover this crazy land had two suns, like some kind of warped planet off of Star Wars.

_Why would they have two suns? It's crazy! And seriously, if this kid doesn't start talking, I'm going to crack out. But I kinda can't blame him for the way I snapped at him, but her seriously didn't have any place in talking to me like that, like he actually knows something about me._

Jeb hadn't said a word since they had embarked this morning and Oz was beginning to think he wasn't ever going to, till he turned to her in the saddle and handed her a blanket.

"It's about to get mighty cold, so I'd suggest using that the best you can to cover yourself." and he turned back around with another word.

Oz sighed again, _fine emo boy, I'll put the stupid blanket on, but how cold can it get? It's been like 80 degrees the whole time…_

However, Oz wrapped herself with the blanket nonetheless.

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R&R please


	3. Oz meets the Royals

-1**Author's Note: Yay for reviews, thanks guys! I named the girl Oz, well; I liked the name, since forever and it means strength and courage in Hebrew. Anyways, thank you all for the reviews and keep reading.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing from these stories, just my imagination…. The characters of Tin Man belong to Sci-Fi and Frank Baum. However, I do have Tin Man on my TiVo….**

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Jeb looked over his shoulder sometime after he felt Oz's head slump against his back and her grip loosen around his waist. He had moved one hand from his horse's reins to her hands to keep her from falling. He looked back to Oz's small hands; his gaze fell upon her wrists, slender, delicate, and riddled with jagged scars. _Odd, scars like these are usually self-inflicted…_ Suddenly the hands were ripped out of his grasp. "Don't touch me." Oz's whisper was like poison from a snake. "Sorry, didn't want you to fall is all." Jeb mumbled, "Whatever. How much longer do we have till we get to this Northern Island? Cause I'm freezing my ass off." a gruff soon was all Jeb would supply. Truth was they weren't very far maybe two miles at the most. He turned to see his company following up. "Rommel, a word please" he called behind him, an older man came up to his left, "Sir?" Erwin Rommel was one of Jeb's most trusted friends, he was twice Jeb's age ad built like a bear. "Fox, ride ahead, tell my father I need to meet with him and the Royal's as soon as possible." Rommel smiled at Jeb and then spared his horse, his outline soon disappearing into the trees. "How old are you?" Oz's voice suddenly filled the snowy air. "19 annuals, you?" "18. So wait, how does a 19 ear old become a general of an army, royal or not, and aren't you supposed to be in some kind of uniform?" "Guess you'll find out soon enough, we're here…" Oz twisted around behind him to see a large palace surrounded by a frozen sea. "Whoa…"

_Why the hell did it have to be the Northern Island? Why couldn't it have been the Southern Island? It's freaking colder than Kalamazoo in February! _Oz fought the urge to snuggle into the General's warm back. _Almost there, almost there, gosh I've really gotta pee…_ Oz's eyes closed as the cold enveloped her, then she felt the close body of warmth move, then it was suddenly gone. Her eyes popped open to see Jeb on the ground, holding out his arms for her. Oz sighed, _Please don't let me break a leg. _"I swear if you drop me, I'll kick your ass…" Oz warned Jeb as she swung one leg over and hopped into his arms. _Oh gosh he's warm._ Nonetheless, Oz quickly stepped out of his arms. "Oh jeez it's cold!" Oz exclaimed bitterly, wrapping the blanket around herself tightly. Then she felt the blanket on her shoulders fall as it was pulled from her grasp. "What the hel…" her exclamation was cut off as a large coat was put on her shoulders and the blanket wrapped back around her. She turned to see Jeb with his arms closed around him. "You were colder." he said simply and they walked through the palace doors.

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DG sat watching Cain pace in front of her, Az, who was sitting next to her was petting a small calico kitten quietly, like a soothing massage. "Cain I swear if you don't sit down and stop pacing right now I'll have Glitch personally sit you down and it won't be pleasant." DG huffed sounding horribly annoyed. Cain stopped mid pace and turned to the princess, "Sorry kid, just worried is all. I can't think as to why Jeb would need to see me so urgently after he arrived along with you and your family." He turned to Rommel,"You didn't leave any part of the message out did you?" Rommel smiled "No Sir. He said to tell you that he needed to meet with you and the royal family as soon as he arrived." Cain practically growled. "Why could he possibly need that urgently?" "well it's nice to see you in such a good mood Father." Jeb laughed from the doorway. Cain turned on his heel to see his son with his arms folded across his chest like he had not a care in the world. "Jeb, good to have you back son." Cain said crossing the room to hug his son with a slap on his back, until he saw a small girl, enveloped in a trench coat and blanket. "Jeb?….." Jeb stepped aside and urged the girl to stand next to him. "Everyone, this is Oz. The newest visitor of O.Z. from the Other Side." Oz lifted the coat arm which engulfed her hand and gave a slight wave. DG looked over to her mother and father to see looks of complete shock on their faces then to Az who stared with her mouth open and had stopped rhythmically petting the cat. The girl looked confused for a second, "uhm hi?" and then DG jumped off the couch and ran to give the girl a hug. "Don't worry about a thing. I'll teach you everything you need to know. I'm DG former resident of Kansas. Welcome to the Outer Zone." so she grabbed Oz's hand and then her sister and bolted up the palace stairs to he bedchamber.

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Cain quirked an eyebrow at his son after DG had spirited away Oz and Az from the room. "Jeb?" the elder Cain turned to his son looking for him to explain. "We were coming here from Central City, I had finished gathering the remaining Freedom Fighters and placed what Longcoats we had captured into the prison at Central City to await their trials and sentencing. So we were about a day away when I find this girl, unconscious in the middle of the path wearing the strangest clothing I've ever seen include a pair of canvas shoes just like DG. She has no idea where she was or how she had gotten here, so I brought her to the palace, hoping someone here would know what to do. Dad, she has things wrong with her, her wrists, they're all slashed up and she won't let anyone touch her, and she's also got this funny little tattoo on her back, just below her neck. She needs help Dad. The funniest part was that she said there was no Travel Storm, or Tornado. So I have no idea how she got here." Jeb confessed sitting down with his father across from the Queen and her Consort. The Queen looked at Ahamo and then at the Cain's, "I don't know how this has happened, I will have to speak with Ambrose, he may be able to figure something out." Jeb nodded and looked back at his father. "Father, there's something else. I went back to the resistance camp. The tin suite was empty. Zero was gone."

Dun dun dunnnnnn

Zero's back

More later, possibly today

Rommel was a Nazi General in ww2, he had a cool name, his nick name was also Desert Fox

R&R!


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